


Nine

by Legume_Shadow



Series: Whispers (Prequels to the Echoes Series) [1]
Category: Peacemaker Kurogane
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Precocious Child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-21
Updated: 2014-07-21
Packaged: 2018-02-09 18:30:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1993305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Legume_Shadow/pseuds/Legume_Shadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every nine-year-old dreams of having fun all day with his or her friends, and Okita Soujirou is no different.  But when fate rolls the dice and leads a curious young Soujirou to meet the man who will eventually be known as the "Demon Vice-Commander" of the Shinsengumi, a long, tumultuous journey, whispered only as legend, is born.</p>
<p>This is the first of the 13-part prequel series to both the "Echoes Series" and Remnants.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So...I know that there are probably plenty of fics out there depicting the first meeting between Hijikata and Okita. This one is written in the flavor and lore of my Echoes series of stories and Remnants - hence why there will be a lot of political, shinobi, and rebellion shenanigans going on in future stories.
> 
> First Published: AO3, July 2014. All copyrights apply to the appropriate parties and no profit is being made from this fanwork.

**Part 1: Nine**

**Chapter 1.0**

_Early Spring 1853_

 

“Okita-sama!”

“Young master, where are you?”

Wind whipped through his formerly neatly tied hair as Soujirou giggled to himself, racing through the streets and narrow alleyways, past peoples' legs and around vendor stalls. Another day, another easy escape from the servants that his older sister, Mitsu, had insisted accompany him to the shops located near their villa. He knew that soon, those servants, no matter how hard they would try, would give up searching for him, consigning themselves to sit in an area full of people, pretending that they knew where he was, than to walk back to the villa to report to Mitsu that they had lost him.

It was always the same, and whenever he returned after a day of fun, especially days when he was covered in mud from head to toe, the servants were always grateful that he returned safe and sound. Of course, their explanations to Mitsu of how he became so dirty were constantly amusing, but he always intervened on their behalf to ensure that the servants tasked to keep an eye on him were not punished. It was the least he could do for what they had to put up with.

As the expensively enormous villas, houses, and colorful stores slowly transitioned to smaller, more decrepit-looking areas, people were still milling about, but their demeanor changed. This area of Edo that he was running through was the poorer area, where many of the low-born samurai and commoners lived and mingled, but it was not the poorest section yet. It was around here, near a particular irrigation channel, that he always met up with his friends, Aya and Ayumu.

He never dared to go into the poorest sections of Edo alone, especially not without his friends, for it was dangerous for a child to be there alone. There were many gangs that hung around the poorest sections, harrassing children, and even attempting to kill them. Adults that were not part of the gangs were never seen, and patrol men never intervened in the gangs' territorial wars. However, it was also there that he and his friends had a lot of fun.

As soon as he spotted a familiar-looking tree near the irrigation channel, he stopped before it and sat on the ground. The thrill of the run was still washing over him, but he wasn't tired at all. It was at this strong and sturdy willow tree, where the wind always gently blew its branches and leaves which every way, that he waited.

He was always first at the tree, and his friends usually came a few minutes after he arrived, though there was that one time where he had waited for an hour for them to show up. His two friends always came, wearing subdued colors, which was perfect for hiding and blending in. Sometimes, they would go to the poorest sections to have fun, but sometimes, they took him to a section within Edo castle's walls where he had seen many dark-clad men, women, and children, complete with head coverings, practicing.

A few others, though older, like him, were also sometimes at the training place, watching what his friends called _shinobi_ , training. When he first heard the word, he didn't know what it was, and it was only because he mentioned it to his sister's husband, that he found out what the word meant. Shinobi were a class of people considered in society to be the lowest of low, who operated mainly as spies. It was also then that he first learned of just how rigid of a class system his world was. Strangely, his brother-in-law had asked him not to mention about his association with shinobi to Mitsu, but seeing just how serious Rintarou was, he kept it to himself and agreed.

Since his brother-in-law had found out about his association with shinobi, though Rintarou never asked how, he had taken to telling him about some of the fun he had with his friends, watching their open training sessions. His brother-in-law always had a smile on his face whenever listening, but did not ask him any questions after each tale, preferring to just listen. However, forays into the poorest sections of Edo were never mentioned, for he knew that that was supposed to be a secret only between him and his friends.

A cool breeze, carrying the faint scent of first bloom flowers with it blew by, waking him up and out of his reverie. Looking around, he noticed that the sun had shifted more than he expected and that his friends were still not here. There were a few pebbles around and he picked them up. He would continue to wait, but he hoped that his friends would come soon – he was getting bored, waiting for them.

_Plonk!_

Soujirou frowned as the pebble he had just thrown into the irrigation channel missed the fish that he had seen trying to swim up against the current, and sink to the bottom. He had been quite sure that his aim had been good, but no matter – he had more pebbles to throw. Readying another, he was just about to throw it into the channel when something in the corner of his eyes caught his attention.

Looking up he saw a tall man with flowing jet-black hair that was tied up not in a traditional samurai topknot, but in a simple ponytail, wandering from stall to stall in the area. It was that, and the fact that the tall man carried a daisho on his waist that Soujirou thought he did not belong here. Samurai usually tied their hair up in the traditional topknot. Other patrons who were doing the exact same thing, looking at vendors' wares, had not paid the tall man any heed, but something in his gut told him that this tall man was not from where the nobles lived in Edo. Could this person be a ronin?

Ronin scared him, but also fascinated him as he had listened to his sister's husband sometimes talk about them whenever he was home. He thought that the masterless samurai had the freedom to do whatever they wanted, and even with the fictional stories he read of the exploits of those during the Sengoku era, gave him a positive image of those labeled ronin. However, he had learned to keep those types of opinions to himself, for he had been severely admonished by Mitsu once before, after making a comment about ronin. His sister had also told him that he was fortunate to not have had Rintarou overhear his comments. He didn't understand why Mitsu and her husband didn't like ronin, but he didn't ask why, for he did not want to incur the wrath of his sister again.

Curiosity got the better of him as he heard the echoes of his friends' voices urging him to follow his gut and to follow the man to see what kind of person he was. It had been one of his favorite games that he had played with his friends. Seeing that he had been sitting here for the better part of a day, he was starting to get bored and impatient, waiting for them. He didn't know when they would show up, but perhaps if he followed this man, he would have some interesting stories to tell whenever his friends came. It certainly was better than sitting here at the irrigation channel, trying to throw pebbles at fish or sitting back home, listening to his sister try to calm her baby down.

He waited until the tall man moved off and was about to leave the area before setting the rest of his pebbles down on the side of the channel and started to follow. He kept his distance, ducking behind stalls and slipping into alleyways whenever he thought the tall man was going to spot him. Thanks to his friends teaching him how to sneak around, he managed to successfully follow the tall man through a series of alleyways and streets with being noticed.

After a half hour of follow the man, he paused at the corner of an alleyway as he saw the tall man turn into another alleyway. Familiar with the streets in this area, he wondered why the tall man had turned into a dead end. Peeking out, he saw that the tall man was staring at the dirty wall of the house that created the dead end to the alleyway. However, he suddenly felt himself being picked up by the scruff of his clothes and immediately gave a yell of protest.

That sound attracted the attention of the tall man as Soujirou saw him turn, just as another man said, “Give us your coin and we'll leave the child alone!”

“You're cowards to use a child in such a manner. What happened to your honor as warriors--”

The tall man didn't get to finish his question as Soujirou managed to twist around enough to catch a glimpse of the person who had grabbed him and found himself staring at a familiar face. It was one of the gangs that he and his friends constantly taunted and ran away from whenever they played in this part of Edo. Those gangs were absolutely ruthless towards the other children they had 'caught' playing or just accidentally wandering in their territory. Adults in the area stayed quite clear of the gangs, hence why patrolmen never arrested them.

He immediately kicked as hard as he could, using a technique he had seen his friends do during one of the open training sessions that he had watched before. It certainly wasn't accurate, but it was close enough that the thug holding him howled and let him go. Just before he landed on the ground, he managed to snatch the thug's wakizashi out of his scabbard and scrambled towards the tall man.

Half-sliding next to the tall man, he tried to slow down his breathing as he held the sword in an angle he had seen it held before. It was heavy, and his arms shook with the effort, but he kept his fingers wrapped around the hilt as best as possible.

The man that he had kicked continued to howl and hold his bleeding nose as the others in the group drew their swords. The tall man had also drawn his sword, and had taken a half step in front of him. Annoyed, he took a half step to the side and forward. “I am not going to be a liability,” he said. He was determined not to be, for his sister, for his brother-in-law, for anyone.

“You're going to be dead, kid, if you don't move,” the tall man shot back. The tall man then turned his attention to the thugs, saying, “Leave now and I won't have to kill you.”

One of the thugs snickered, saying, “A little too late for that, don't you think, stranger? Give us your coin and we'll quietly go away.”

“As you wish then,” the tall man said. A split second later, Soujirou heard the man roar and saw him charge. Though he could only see the initial swipe of the tall man's blade beat against one of the thug's blades, he heard the clang of metal on metal, and a moment later, he too moved.

Though he had only basic training that his brother-in-law had given him with a shinai, wielding a live blade, even one as small as a wakizashi was causing him to be quite clumsy. He was not used to the weight of the blade and thus his initial strike at the closest thug was a jab to the man's legs. Fortunately, he was still quick enough to pull the blade out and rolled away before the thug could swipe at him.

As he rolled back up to his feet, he saw that the thug who had tried to strike him with his sword had been stabbed in the chest by a powerful thrust of the tall man's sword. The tall man had angled his body in a peculiar way to strike, something that his brother-in-law had never shown him how to do before. Wide-eyed, he watched as the force of the strike sunk the tall man's blade almost half-way before it translated to the body reacting and flying backwards, hitting the ground with a meaty thunk.

All around the two of them, the thugs who had tried to rob the tall man and attempted to take Soujirou hostage were dead. Soujirou found himself curiously staring at the lifeless bodies, but could feel no fear running through him. Mitsu had told him that most people didn't like to see dead bodies, and though this was his first time witnessing people being killed, he found himself just calmly staring at the bodies.

“Hey, kid,” the tall man said, snapping him out of his fugue as he looked up to see the tall man flick the blood off of his katana and sheathe it. “You scared?”

Silently, he shook his head negative, and became aware that he was still holding on to the wakizashi that he had stolen. There was some blood on the tip of the blade, and though he tried to mimic the tall man's move to get rid of the blood, his arms shook slightly with the effort and he couldn't put enough force into the flick to get the blood off.

“Why were you following me kid?” the tall man asked, as Soujirou gave a sudden start, with the blade suddenly taken away from him.

“You do not look like you are from around the vassal lords' housing area,” he truthfully stated as he watched the tall man flick the wakizashi before reaching down to pluck its sheathe from its original owner. With the clean blade sliding back into its housing, Soujirou was surprised as he was handed back the blade.

“Here, kid,” the tall man said, with a grim smile on his face. “You did good work today. I heard from locals around here that these guys were harassing the street urchins around here. But you don't look like one.”

“Um...thank you,” he said, taking the blade. “I am not,” he answered in reply to the tall man's statement about being a street urchin. Cautious, for he was not sure if he should reveal his family's heritage, he asked, “If you are not one of samurai or commoners that lives in Edo, who are you and where do you come from?”

“Hijikata Toshizou,” the tall man said. “I study at Kondou Isami's Tennen Rishin Ryu school.”

“Pleased to meet you, Hijikata-san,” he politely said, remembering his manners and bowed slightly. “I am Okita Soujirou.”

 

~*~*~*~


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1.1**

 

_Two days later..._

 

“Soujirou-kun!”

“I got it, Mitsu-neesan,” Soujirou said as he reached out and caught the bundle of leafy greens that had tipped out of his sister's basket. He quickly took the basket from her sister's arms as she readjusted the cloth carrier that was wrapped around her, carrying the baby in front. As he ensured that both baskets were evenly distributed with the food they were buying, he gave his nephew a silly grin. The baby cooed and giggled as he saw his sister give him a tired smile.

It was he who had insisted that his sister, Mitsu, take a small walk around the marketplace so that she could have a break from the usual routines. Servants were not present, as his sister had insisted that they were going to be back shortly and would just be buying some small items.

As tired as his sister was, taking care of the baby at all odd hours of the night, she had agreed to the break and thus, the two of them were now out and about in the nice spring weather. Since his sister's husband was away, tending to affairs in the lands that the family owned, but would be back soon, Mitsu took her baby with her, rather than leave the baby at home for the servants to care for him.

“I can take a basket, Soujirou-kun,” his sister said after a moment.

“I am fine,” he said, grinning as he hefted both baskets with little effort.

“Are you sure?” she asked, looking a bit worried. “That wakizashi at your side is making your walk droop a little to the left.”

“I transferred some of the heavier items to the right to balance out,” he said, showing her the basket he was carrying in his right hand.

When he had returned to his home, two days ago, after that incident in the poor area of Edo, Mitsu had not been happy to see him carrying the wakizashi that Hijikata had told him to keep. After he had told her of what had happened and of what Hijikata had done, she still wasn't happy, but she had allowed him to keep the sword. He had worn it day and night, proud of what he had helped done, and to also get used to carrying a sword. He had a neat story to tell now, to his friends, the next time they met up.

He had also been quite curious as to the details of the swordsmanship style that Hijikata studied, but had not gotten the chance to ask. Hijikata had told him to leave shortly after finding out each other's names, telling him to go find some straw bundles to clean up the area. When Soujirou had returned, the bodies were gone, and Hijikata was no where in the area. He had placed the straw down on the spots where blood had been spilled, but after an hour of fruitless searching, he gave up on trying to find the tall man again, and had returned home.

“Ready to go home?”

“Can we buy some sweets at that shop?” he asked, focusing back on the present.

His sister looked a bit thoughtful for a moment before saying, “I suppose so. Just as long as you promise that you won't eat them all in one night.”

“I will not,” he promised, giving his sister his best smile. Excited that they were going to stop by what he thought was the best sweets shop in Edo, he managed to run slightly ahead on the road until he heard his sister calling for him to slow down.

Turning around, he gave his sister a wide smile and waited until she caught up, face slightly flushed with exertion and a smile that matched his. His baby nephew gave a gurgle of happiness as they continued walking, before turning into a quiet street. The sweet shop was not near the marketplace, and had only been discovered by accident by his sister a year ago. Since then, though, Soujirou had been at that sweet shop with every opportunity he had after a marketplace shopping trip.

Turning down another quiet street, he saw someone at the end of it, but as they approached, he felt his sister's hand on his shoulder, halting him. Wondering what was going on, he curiously looked up at his sister, only to see that there was a concerned look on her face, and it was directed at the person at the end of the street.

Something was not right about the person at the end of the street, and a moment later, he heard a shuffling sound behind them and turned. Two more people had approached and halted a few paces before them. All three people surrounding them had ratty-looking clothes, unkempt hair, and were carrying swords. They did not look like samurai – in fact, Soujirou could swear that he had seen these people down in the poorer sections of Edo before...another gang. Could these thugs have been affiliated with the ones that had been killed by Hijikata only a couple of days ago?

He wasn't sure, but from the three men's demeanor, he knew that they meant harm, and so he dropped the baskets of food and immediately drew his wakizashi out. Stepping forward protectively, he narrowed his eyes slightly as he saw all three men draw their own blades. Angling his body to mimic what he had seen Hijikata do two days ago with that strange move, he knew that if he could successfully pull it off on the lone man instead of the two men that had crept up from behind them, his sister and her child would at least be able to get to safety.

“Okita Mitsu?” one of the thugs called out.

Soujirou felt a chill pass through him. How did a gang from the poor section know of his sister's name? The Okita family was one of the many vassals of the Shogunate, but surely they were not as well known or identified as other higher-ranking families such as the Yukishirou family. But he knew that these thugs would most likely never give their source of knowledge, not unless they were threatened with harm. At least that is what his friends had told him before about people with ill intent.

For the past two days, in his mind's eyes, he had gone over and over again on just how Hijikata had done that move, and he was quite confident that he had copied the move just right. “Run when I tell you, Mitsu-neesan,” he whispered to his sister.

“Soujirou-kun, don't...” she protested, but fell silent as the men took a couple of steps forward, leering at their prey.

Giving a loud roar as best as he could, given his small stature and untrained self, he hoped it was enough to at least startle the three men, and charged. Unfortunately, since he never got to fully practice what he had seen, the wakizashi wavered in his untrained hands. Fortunately, just the fact that a small boy, no more than nine years of age, was charging a fully grown man, gave the three thugs a pause. It was enough to give Soujirou a small but slight advantage as he managed to keep the wakizashi level enough to sink it into the lone thug at the end of the street's stomach before the man could bring his katana to bear.

Letting go of the blade, Soujirou ducked and rolled to the side, just as the thug reacted and tried to slice him from head to gut. He came up and out of his roll just as an even louder, more menacing war cry filled the street. He managed to get a glimpse of a familiar-looking man charging down the formerly quiet street, before once again, ducking as he avoided the haphazard swipes of the wounded man he had stabbed with his wakizashi. Nimbly jumping out of the way, he kept it up as the man swiped at him a couple of more times before suddenly flopping to the ground.

Stunned, for he thought that the point where he struck would only draw some blood and not kill the man, he hurried towards the man, just as he glanced up to see that of all people who had killed the other two thugs, it was Hijikata.

Glancing back down, he saw that the thug was still breathing, but strangely, it was quite labored and he was wheezing. Footsteps approached and he looked back up, seeing his sister, clutching her child quite protectively, being escorted by Hijikata. There was a frightened look on his sister's face, but it was Hijikata's thunderous expression that caused him to shrink back slightly.

Taking a step back, he watched, half in fascination, half in disbelief as Hijikata rolled the thug over, before yanking Soujirou's wakizashi out of the man's gut. With a flick of his wrists, the blood was whisked from the blade, as it was handed back. Soujirou gingerly took it, bowing slightly towards Hijikata as he looked back to see that the thug wheezed some more, taking gurgling breaths before becoming still a few seconds later.

“You'll need to give that blade a good cleaning, boy,” Hijikata said, as Soujirou tore his eyes away from the dead body and focused it on the tall man. Turning to Mitsu, Hijikata said, “Please allow me to escort the three of you back to your home.”

“We are grateful for your assistance, good sir,” Mitsu answered. However, she did not immediately move and asked, “By chance, are you the man who gave my brother here that wakizashi?”

“Yes, I am,” Hijikata answered quite curtly. “If you would permit me, I would also like to discuss his future once your safety has been guaranteed.”

“What is going on?” Soujirou asked, confused. “Should we not summon patrol men and report this attack?”

“I will report it once the three of you are safely at your home,” Hijikata reassured them. “Come.”

With Hijikata walking beside them, Soujirou felt more confident, but he was also worried about what had happened. Somehow, the men knew his sister's name, and even though he had not meant to kill that man, he had. Long had he heard from people, including his brother-in-law, that first kills caused the person to feel sick, with a swooping sensation in stomachs that usually ended up having stomach contents voided through the mouth, but strangely, he had not felt any such symptoms.

Even with the pace that they were walking with, especially with the concerned looks that both Hijikata and Mitsu were occasionally shooting him, he felt...fine. A man had died by his hand, but he didn't feel sad or happy, just...ambivalent about it. He tried to justify it in his mind that those thugs deserved the punishment they tried to mete, but even that felt hollow.

“Mitsu!”

The sound of Rintarou's voice snapped him out of his musings as he saw that they were approaching the villa and that his sister's husband, surrounded by several patrolmen had seen them. It seemed that his brother-in-law had returned from his trip to the ancestral Okita lands early. The patrolmen had also stopped their conversations and darted forward, but it was Mitsu who placed a hand out, stepping in front of Hijikata that stopped the patrolmen from approaching.

“Please do not arrest this good sir, officers,” she said, as Soujirou heard his baby nephew gurgle in her arms, completely oblivious to what happened. “Hijikata Toshizou-san saved the three of us from the men who were trying to kill us.”

By that time, Rintarou had approached and stopped before them, asking, “Please explain, Hijikata-san.”

However, Soujirou jumped into the defense of the man, not wanting his twice-savior to have his words twisted by the patrolmen who never looked kindly down upon the lower-class samurai and commoners. “It is my fault, Rintarou-niisan,” he said, pulling out the wakizashi that he had been given and unsheathed it to show the now-dried blood still coating the blade. “I wanted to go to that sweets shop and three men, two in the back, one in the front, surrounded us. They asked for Mitsu-neesan's name. Something did not feel right to me and so I attacked. Please do not arrest or punish Hijikata-san over this. He saved my sister and I.”

“Is this true?” he heard his brother-in-law question Hijikata, and looked over to see Hijikata nod.

“Then let us go in and discuss this further,” Rintarou said, waving a hand to dismiss the patrolmen.

It took little time for them to enter, with Mitsu handing her baby off to the servants. Soujirou's wakizashi had been taken from him by his brother-in-law and he had been sent off to the bathhouse to clean up. As he was washing himself, servants had taken away his clothes that had been flecked with blood that he didn't even realize were on them, and replaced with fresh clean ones. As soon as he was done and had dried and clothed himself, he was directed by the servants back to where Rintarou, Mitsu, and Hijikata were sitting.

The three fell silent just as he entered. Feeling a bit conscious of himself, he quickly took a seat in between his sister and Hijikata. Though he never liked sitting in seiza, something in the room's atmosphere made him sit straight and alert, facing his brother-in-law. Though his brother-in-law had married into the Okita family, Rintarou was still head of the family, and even as a blood-born member of the Okita family, there were still rules that he, Soujirou, had to follow.

“Hijikata says that you tried to copy a move that he did a couple of days ago against the men today,” Rintarou began.

Soujirou flushed red with embarrassment as he mutely nodded, wishing that he could bury his face somewhere else. However, when he took a quick glance over at Hijikata, he noticed that the man had an expression that was a cross between impressed and proud. His embarrassment faded and he returned his attention to his brother-in-law; if Hijikata saw nothing wrong with trying to mimic a move, then he would be proud of attempting it. “I tried,” he admitted, “but I believe I failed.”

He saw his brother-in-law glance over at Hijikata, but did not understand the meaning of it. A moment later though, Rintarou returned his attention to him and said, “If you are willing, Soujirou, you will go with Hijikata-san back to the dojo he practices in to learn Tennen Rishin Ryu. I have heard of the headmaster of the dojo before, Kondou Isami, and he is a good man and teacher.”

Wide-eyed, he stared at his brother-in-law for a few moments before regaining his composure. Long had he wanted to study at a dojo, and though he knew children his age usually went back to their ancestral lands to study under a private tutor or enrolled in a school with children similar in age, Rintarou had never done either for him. To finally be allowed to study a sword style and enroll in a dojo, especially the same style that Hijikata practiced, was the best thing that could've happened to him.

“Yes,” he enthusiastically said, “I want to go!”

* * *

Scampering wasn't quite the word that described Soujirou's behavior as he half-ran ahead of Hijikata. Kondou Isami's dojo was located on the fringes of Edo, almost encompassed all by farmland, but he didn't care. It was only the sharp bark of Hijikata's voice calling his name that he stopped and waited. He had not brought much with him, and carried only a spare change of clothes and a shinai that Rintarou had given him. The wakizashi that he had carried was left at home, and would be reclaimed once he completed his studies.

Before they had left, Hijikata had returned to the depths of Edo and completed whatever errand that had brought him to the city. He didn't inquire as to the errand, and Hijikata did not explain. It didn't damper his excitement though, of finally getting the chance to study a sword style – he was determined to master the style as fast as he could and become the best swordsman in Japan.

As the two of them approached, he saw a few people outside of the dojo, pouring well water on themselves, most likely cooling down after an ardurous practice session. They spotted their approach and he heard a few of them greet Hijikata, though most of them threw some curious looks at him.

“Hey Hijikata-san!” a short, boisterous brown-haired man greeted, as the two of them stopped before the group gathered outside. “Glad to see that you've safely returned! Who might this boy be?”

The urge to shrink back upon several unknown people examining him with close eyes was great, but Soujirou fought that urge and looked at them with defiant eyes. If they thought they were going to cow him into shrinking back behind Hijikata like a scared kid, they were wrong. Gangs in the poorest sections of Edo had taught him how to stand up for himself, and he was not a child that needed protection and coddling.

“My name is Okita Soujirou,” he proudly said, “and I am here to study Tennen Rishin Ryu.”

“Ah, Toshi!” a loud voice interrupted whatever else he and the others were going to say as he saw a tall but large man with a square face step out of the dojo. “You're back!” The tall man noticed him and peered down, saying, “Hmm...who might this be?”

“Okita Soujirou,” he answered, and suddenly found himself bowing slightly towards the man. Hijikata had placed a hand on his back and had pressed him into the bow. As soon as the pressure was gone, he straightened, but there was only one person he knew that he had to bow to, which meant that the large man with a square face was the master of the dojo, Kondou Isami.

“Of the Okita family, eh?” the dojo master said, chuckling. “Welcome to my dojo, Soujirou-kun.” Kondou gestured to the others around the area and introduced them. Though it felt like a whirlwind, Soujirou tried to memorize the names to the faces as best as he could. It would be embarrassing for him to not remember peoples' names once they had been introduced, and he could remember the admonishing words that his sister had said about forgetting peoples' names once they were introduced.

“Hey, Kondou-san,” the same brown-haired man who had initially greeted them, Nagakura Shinpachi, spoke up after the greetings were done, “Isn't he a little young to begin studying here?”

“Nonsense,” Kondou said, carelessly waving a hand in the air. “We're always looking for new members, and it doesn't matter how old they are – they're all welcome to study here. Besides, I believe that Toshi here would have never brought Soujirou-kun back here if he didn't think the boy was ready to begin learning, would he?”

The dampening in his enthusiasm to study at this dojo with Nagakura's doubtful question was lightened when he saw Hijikata nod and say, “You won't be disappointed.”

* * *

Night had long fallen over the great and vast city of Edo when she finally arrived at the elegant villa. Of course, she would have been there earlier, but to be seen in daylight by curious passerbys was detrimental to her assignment. The request for a bodyguard had only arrived mid-morning, but due to the urgency of the request, she had volunteered for the duty. She only knew of the Okita familiy through her daughter, Aya's, silly adventures with the young boy, Okita Soujirou, but now it seemed that persons unknown were targeting the family, more specifically, the wife of the household head.

It also seemed that despite the danger that had passed, Okita Rintarou was not going to take a chance and had requested a particular type of bodyguard. He had also wanted to keep it low-key enough, for the stigma attached to the certain bodyguard he had requested for his wife was sure to impact vassal politics, thus her arrival at the villa at night.

The guards at the main entrance to the villa stood alert as she approached but when she handed over a folded piece of paper and patiently waited for those inside to receive and read it, she could feel the eyes of the guards traveling all over her. She mentally shrugged it off, having been quite used to the looks she received, for it was not beauty that defined her, but the fact that she knew that she was so ordinary-looking that it didn't make sense for someone who did not look pretty or flower-house-like would be standing at the entrance to a vassal's house, waiting to go in.

Another guard returned, with the letter in hand and whispered some words to the guards at the entrance, and not a moment later, the guards gestured for her to enter. Giving the guards a smile, she entered and was escorted by a servant waiting just beyond the entrance to where she hoped that both Okita Rintarou and his wife were waiting.

Though it was nighttime she could still see quite well in the dark, and she marveled at just how subdued the villa and the gardens surrounding the place looked. She knew that the Okita family was not as influential or as powerful as other vassal families, but they were still quite wealthy, and they were one of the few families whose villas in Edo she had seen, that did not flaunt their wealth. She had heard that most of the money that the family generated went back to the people in their ancestral lands, not towards any unneeded grand additions at the villa. It was not her place to question or to ask why, but she couldn't help but wonder why Okita Mitsu had been targeted.

Leaving her shoes at the foot of the walkway, she stepped up and with a small announcement by the servant, was allowed into the first room nearest to the walkway. Sitting in seiza before her were Okita Rintarou and his wife, though there was a sleeping baby in Okita Mitsu's lap. She could feel their sharp eyes on her, but allowed them to openly gaze at her, while keeping her head slightly down. Shinobi were always looked down upon, even though they got all the so-called 'dirty' work done for vassal lords and others who could afford their services. The Okita family's critical gaze on her was nothing new and nothing that she could not endure.

As soon as the servant slid the door closed, she bowed deeply and said, “I am Matsumoto Sakura of the Oniwabanshuu, and have been assigned as Okita Mitsu-sama's bodyguard.”

 

~*~*~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The naming of Soujirou as his given name is deliberate. He has not changed his name to Souji just yet. That will be addressed in a future short story.


End file.
